Chapter 3138: A man dies for one who understands him

Little Liu's willing resignation caused both President Pei and his wife to breathe a sigh of relief at the same time.

The other vice presidents present also instantly felt much more relaxed.

They were also afraid that President Pei would ask one of them to make room for Xiao Changkun. Although everyone disliked Xiao Changkun, the moment they thought of Master Hong Wu behind him, no one was willing to offend him openly. If they were truly asked to step down, no matter who it was, they were afraid they wouldn't dare to refuse.

Seeing that the matter had been temporarily resolved, President Pei couldn't help but give a thumbs up to his wife beside him under the table.

Truth be told, his wife's plan was indeed thorough. With Little Liu's words, a direct position adjustment tomorrow would allow Xiao Changkun to return to work, and the thorny problem would be considered solved.

President Pei's wife took the initiative to speak up at this moment: "Why don't we all toast Little Liu together? This matter this time is all thanks to him!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" President Pei suddenly came back to his senses, immediately picked up his wine glass, stood up, and said to everyone: "Come, come, come, everyone, let us toast Little Liu together. Thank you, Little Liu, for your active contribution this time. I also hope everyone can remember this favor from Little Liu. Since it is a favor, if there is an opportunity in the future, everyone must repay it!"

Once President Pei said this, Little Liu suddenly felt an impulse that a man dies for one who understands him.

He felt that President Pei was truly a great person. He himself had been promoted by him, and now that he asked him to step down, he actually had nothing to say. But he didn't expect President Pei to give him so much face, saying such thorough words in front of so many people, which moved him deeply.

Others also knew that Little Liu's active resignation this time had indeed solved a trouble for everyone, and it was only natural for everyone to owe him a favor.

Thus, everyone echoed one after another, and in their words, they did not forget to praise Little Liu highly, while also boasting that they would definitely repay this favor in the future.

Little Liu's eyes were red with emotion. He raised his glass, stood up, and said loudly: "Thank you, President Pei, sister-in-law, and all the leaders for your care. I, Liu Haitao, have nothing to repay you with, so I will drink first as a sign of respect!"

Having said that, he tilted his head back and drank all the white spirit in his glass.

The others did not hesitate at all and drank it all in one gulp. The atmosphere was very friendly and warm.

At this moment, someone suddenly asked: "By the way, President Pei, if Xiao Changkun returns to work, will the people below have any opinions? If they make a fuss or go to complain about something, I'm afraid it will be quite troublesome, right?"

Before President Pei could speak, his wife, Huang Qiuyun, spoke first: "Everyone, rest assured. Although Xiao Changkun's previous incident was indeed a scandal, it hasn't risen to the level of a criminal case, and it doesn't even count as a civil dispute. Moreover, it was only Zhang Ermao's one-sided story. In the absence of official intervention, those rumors will always be rumors. No matter who takes those hearsay rumors to file a complaint, they will never win."

As she spoke, Huang Qiuyun added: "Let's take the currently popular 'keeping a mistress' as an example. If Xiao Changkun is exposed for keeping a mistress outside, and there is solid evidence, and his legal wife also comes to the association to demand justice, then the association will definitely fire him. But if it's just a woman jumping out and saying she is Xiao Changkun's mistress without any other evidence, and even the legal wife herself doesn't admit it, then in this situation, no one will do anything to Xiao Changkun."

Huang Qiuyun said this also with the intention of reminding the others present, in case anyone felt unhappy and went to report Xiao Changkun, eventually causing trouble for President Pei again. After all, in her view, once Xiao Changkun returned to the Calligraphy and Painting Association, if someone used Xiao Changkun's return as an issue, the first person to bear the pressure would inevitably be her husband. She wanted to prevent such things from happening as much as possible.

Hearing her words, the others felt that what she said did indeed make some sense. Once they subconsciously agreed with Huang Qiuyun's point of view and felt that complaining about Xiao Changkun would have no effect, they completely extinguished the little spark of thought in their subconscious.

The group reached a consensus, and the atmosphere quickly became warm. Everyone toasted each other and drank to their heart's content.

President Pei had a good capacity for liquor, but he deliberately controlled it tonight and didn't really drink to his limit. However, in the second half of the drinking session, he deliberately pretended to have reached his limit. He would lie on the table for a while, and then pretend to have a headache and rub his temples. Even his wife beside him was fooled by him, pouring him warm water and patting his back, showing great concern.

Seeing that President Pei seemed to have drunk too much, everyone stopped asking him to toast. Instead, after the others split the remaining wine, they ended the drinking session early on the grounds that President Pei was feeling unwell.

Everyone sent the drunk President Pei out, helped him into the passenger seat, and watched his wife drive away before they all went home.

And after the car drove out a few hundred meters, President Pei, who had been slumped in the passenger seat, sat up straight and said to Huang Qiuyun beside him: "Wife, turn right ahead."

Huang Qiuyun was startled by his sudden remark and asked in surprise, "Old Pei, aren't you drunk?"

"Not much," President Pei said. "This is nowhere near my limit. If you want to get me drunk, I'd need at least another half a jin of Moutai."

Huang Qiuyun shook her head helplessly: "Your subordinates are all at the table tonight; is there any need to hide your capacity? If you don't want to drink, just say you're done. Who could force you to drink anyway?"

President Pei said: "Oh, you don't understand. Today I need to show that I'm one of them. Of course, I can't put on the airs of a leader. If they drink and I just 'feel free' to sip, it doesn't look approachable, and they won't truly see me as their big brother."

As he spoke, President Pei saw they were approaching the intersection and said, "Quick, turn on the signal and get into the right-turn lane. We're going to Tang Chen Yi Pin; I need to go see Xiao Changkun."

Huang Qiuyun suddenly realized. While signaling and turning right, she asked him, "So you were saving your capacity because you planned to go see Xiao Changkun?"

"That's right," President Pei sighed, feeling incredibly depressed. "He probably hates me to the core these past few days. Since we'll be seeing each other constantly in the future, shouldn't I try to ease this relationship? Now that his director position is effectively vacated, me telling him personally can be considered showing some sincerity."

Huang Qiuyun hurriedly asked, "Then are we going to pay a visit to his home? We haven't prepared anything; going empty-handed wouldn't be appropriate, would it?"

President Pei said: "It's too late to prepare anything now. Besides, it's not appropriate to go visit someone's home right after drinking. I'm thinking that once we arrive at Tang Chen Yi Pin, I'll call Xiao Changkun and ask him to come out. I'll apologize to him outside, chat for a bit, tell him the result of today's meeting, and have him report back to the association first thing tomorrow morning."

Huang Qiuyun asked again, "Then do you think he'll forgive you?"

President Pei waved his hand: "In this kind of situation, no matter who it happened to, they wouldn't forgive. All I can do is try my best to make amends, which can be considered slightly easing the conflict. He will definitely still hold a grudge against me, but since I've shown sincerity in making amends, I believe things will improve at least a little."

Having said this, President Pei let out a helpless, long sigh: "Sigh! If I can't satisfy Xiao Changkun, I think I'll be stuck working at the Calligraphy and Painting Association until I retire. I'll have to face Xiao Changkun every day in the future, so I still have to find a way to keep repairing this relationship."

Huang Qiuyun nodded gently and said: "If there's an opportunity, you should still strive to advance further. If you work in this position until retirement, you won't make much money, and your retirement benefits won't be that high either. Look at Old Qin; he used to be your superior. He's made plenty of money over the years, and now that he's retired, his benefits are shockingly high. His children and grandchildren treat him like the moon surrounded by stars; he lives so comfortably every day. Plus, look at him—he doesn't even need to queue up to register at the hospital when he has a headache or fever. If he encounters something the designated hospital can't treat, the doctors even help him book experts from Grade-A hospitals for consultations, and he doesn't have to spend a single cent. If you could retire at his level, your son would definitely wish for you to live to be a hundred!"

"That's true..." President Pei also agreed very much: "At my age, I still have a chance, but I don't know how long this incident with Xiao Changkun will delay things. If it's just a delay of two or three years at the Calligraphy and Painting Association, that's fine, but if it delays me for more than five years, I'll be completely finished."

Huang Qiuyun comforted him: "It's okay, human effort can achieve anything. Let's take it slow!"

At this moment, at Tang Chen Yi Pin.

Xiao Changkun returned home, lay decadently on the sofa, and fiddled with his phone alone.

He had been keeping an eye on his WeChat, wanting to see if President Pei or other colleagues from the Calligraphy and Painting Association would contact him. In his view, since his son-in-law had already spoken to Master Hong Wu, if Master Hong Wu put in some effort, there might actually be a chance for him to go back.

Once they decided internally to let him return, someone would definitely contact him and tip him off.

So, he waited eagerly, hoping to receive some good news.

This state was exactly like a girl who, after sulking and breaking up with her boyfriend, spends all day eagerly waiting for him to take the initiative to send a message to make up.

Ma Lan didn't stay in the living room for long, because she had done a massive amount of shopping in Dubai this time—the floor tiles of the Dubai Mall were almost polished smooth by her shoe soles. She couldn't wait to take her things back to her room, organize them bit by bit, and then enjoy them properly to her heart's content.

Ye Chen didn't rush back to his room. Instead, he sat down opposite Xiao Changkun, brewed a pot of tea, poured a cup for himself and one for Xiao Changkun, and said, "Dad, don't be depressed by yourself. Come, have a cup of tea."

Xiao Changkun nodded, placed his phone by the teacup without locking the screen, and glanced at the phone screen with his peripheral vision while drinking.

Seeing this, Ye Chen asked him deliberately: "Dad, you keep staring at your phone—are you waiting for some message?"

Xiao Changkun shook his head and denied it: "No, no, I'm just looking. It's become a habit to look at my phone when I have nothing to do."

Just as he was speaking, a familiar profile picture suddenly popped up in his WeChat message list, and he could see the content sent: "Old Xiao, sorry to bother you so late. Are you home?"

Xiao Changkun's eyes lit up. He hurriedly put down his teacup, picked up his phone, and deliberately asked him back on WeChat: "What's the matter?"

President Pei hurriedly replied to him: "Old Xiao, there's something I'd like to explain to you in person. Also, there's some good news I want to tell you face-to-face. I'm already at the entrance of your residential complex. If it's convenient for you, would you do me the honor of coming out so we two brothers can chat in person?"